Heteroprox

Heteroprox; Temporal range: Miocene
	Skull
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Placentalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Cervidae
Genus:	†Heteroprox; Schaub, 1928
Type species
	†Heteroprox larteti; Filhol, 1891 (as Cervus larteti)
Species
	H. anatoliensis; H. eggeri; H. larteti; H. moralesi;

Heteroprox is an extinct genus of deer from the Miocene of Europe.

Description

Heteroprox was a mid-sized deer that would have been similar in appearance to a muntjac. It would have stood about 1 m (3.3 ft) tall and weighed around 35 kg (77 lb).¹

It had fairly long legs, and two-pronged antlers. Based on its leg proportions, it was probably semi-aquatic and lived in humid, swampy environments.¹

Palaeoecology

Dental microwear and mesowear indicates that H. larteti consumed significant quantities of abrasive grasses.²

References

Agustí, Jordi; Antón, Mauricio (2002). Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids: 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe. Columbia University Press. p. 141. ISBN 9780231116411.
DeMiguel, Daniel; Azanza, Beatriz; Morales, Jorge (15 March 2011). "Paleoenvironments and paleoclimate of the Middle Miocene of central Spain: A reconstruction from dental wear of ruminants". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 302 (3–4): 452–463. Bibcode:2011PPP...302..452D. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2011.02.005. Retrieved 1 January 2025 – via Elsevier Science Direct.

[Agusti-1] Agustí, Jordi; Antón, Mauricio (2002). Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids: 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe. Columbia University Press. p. 141. ISBN 9780231116411.

[2] DeMiguel, Daniel; Azanza, Beatriz; Morales, Jorge (15 March 2011). "Paleoenvironments and paleoclimate of the Middle Miocene of central Spain: A reconstruction from dental wear of ruminants". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 302 (3–4): 452–463. Bibcode:2011PPP...302..452D. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2011.02.005. Retrieved 1 January 2025 – via Elsevier Science Direct.

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